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There was an interesting blog over at HBR this week; Instead of Making Resolutions, Dream. It puts forth the idea that, perhaps rather than working on “what’s wrong” and making New Years resolutions to exercise, lose weight, perhaps you should look at what your objective is? What is your dream?

Why?

“While resolutions are about “shoulds,” dreaming is about hope — and who we may become.Dreaming is at the heart of disruption — it is only when we dream that we can hope to create something truly new, something that will overtake old habits, old customs, and old ways of thinking and being. And we all know by now that a disruptive path leads to a greater measure of success.”

Which brings me back to Mike. Mike is my 23 year-old son. He has a dream. He just graduated college with degrees in Computer Science and Music Performance, and, like many in his generation, a load of college loan debt. He would love to try his hand a the music profession, but has enough sense (from his Mom, I think) to know that paying off his loans comes first. Luckily he also really enjoys computer science and has an excellent job at a local software company.

This past fall, he came home with a new tattoo on his right arm… we had a tongue-in-cheek text session on the subject:

Mike: “I told you once before [about the tatoo]. You may have thought I wasn’t serious though – haha”

As I head to the gym in the morning and fight the crowds that will be non-existent a month from now, as I go back to counting points via the iPhone Weightwatchers app, I realize that Mike was right. It’s not about resolving to make improvements yet again … It’s about striving toward that goal, that objective.